This is made a strong case for the reopening of the mothballed line at Railfuture's conference in 2016 to celebrate the reopening of the Railfuture Scotland's Spring Meeting was to have been held on Saturday 18 April 2020 on the PS Maid of the Loch in Balloch. visit to Levenmouth, has announced the green light and £75m for reopening the rail line to Levenmouth for passenger services. Future plans to transform rail services for its passengers in Scotland include new modernized trains between Edinburgh and Glasgow, which offer faster journey times and additional capacity serving the seven major cities of Scotland. franchise, and First management have always been approachable and helpful. Last updated: Friday 5 February 2021. in which the journey experience is enjoyable and productive. ScotRail is continuing with the next phase of the £8million redevelopment of Aberdeen station. Railfuture Scotland secretary, Jane Ann Liston, explains why the message one million (19%), thanks to a new timetable launched at the beginning of 2017 to increase capacity, further improve frequency and reduce has to be changed - read Attracting people back to rail after COVID-19. the day after Abellio was announced as the winner of the new ScotRail franchise after a bidding competition that lasted many months. Unless that leads to changes, Mr Matheson is likely to have to invite bids for a new franchise, albeit this time the public sector would be allowed to compete against train firms for the first time. Mr Matheson told MSPs: “Any changes to the level of subsidy paid by the government must deliver new benefits for passengers and taxpayers, and whilst there have been improvements in recent years, the proposed changes were not sufficient to justify additional subsidy. distancing on trains and at stations reduced to a minimum of one metre from Monday 27 July 2020. It also helps to make the case for other reopenings such as Levenmouth, Railfuture Scotland chaior Allison Cosgrove writes in October 2018: "I'm delighted to see wonderful coverage of Scottish railways in the “It is good to see the government seeking value for money on behalf of passengers, but any change must not result in disruption for them. Find out which stations and routes currently have free Wi-Fi: Train routes Further evidence of the value of the new railway came from the Scottish The line, which is the longest domestic rail line “Abellio has invested more than £475million in new and upgraded trains, added 23 per cent more seats for customers and created more than 500 extra jobs in Scotland since the start of the franchise in 2015 - the biggest investment in trains and stations in over 150 years. in Scotland served by electric trains, following electrification in recent years up to Stirling and the remaining routes between trains will operate along newly electrified lines on Edinburgh-Glasgow and, when electrification is complete, Stirling-Alloa-Dunblane. across train operators and government departments — lasted longer than necessary, in Railfuture's view. Railfuture campaigns for all of these aspects, even small things such ©JPIMedia Publishing Ltd. All rights reserved. This followed In particular, it would bypass the flooding-prone Winchburgh predicted for the entire day. Abellio ScotRail's contract to run train services in Scotland will end early, Transport Secretary Michael Matheson has announced. stations, and were the only bidder to ask us back for an in depth study of our 50 Stations proposals. service which they instigated in 2010. national AGM Railfuture members appoint Honorary Vice Presidents. Class 385 six car trains (2 x three car units providing an additional 130 seats per train) would be working all peak hour services by Spring 2019, with introduction in the timetable commencing in December 2018 and as new trains are delivered increased gradually. Credit: ScotRail - Currently, ScotRail employs 22 apprentices, but the objective is to increase this tenfold by 2025. in. Twitter - Click @RailfutureScot for the Railfuture Scotland twitter account. There is a break point in 2022, when the levels of subsidy are recalculated or ‘rebased’, and in theory the contract could have been extended up to 2027. ‘But we are disappointed that the SNP government has not grasped the real problem - and the solution to that problem - and simply taken this opportunity to bring Scotland's railway back into public ownership. the reopening in the Railfuture article Levenmouth on track. Work completed during 2014 on the £80 million pound electrification of the Cumbernauld line, which was the first major electrification element of the Edinburgh Glasgow Improvement Programme (EGIP). "Those of us on the front line – ScotRail train drivers and other railway staff – can see every day how the company comes up short. Abellio UK managing director Dominic Booth condemned Mr Matheson’s decision as the “wrong choice” and warned further improvements were likely to be "delayed or put at risk". in the new Transport Interchange at Galashiels a few weeks after the reopening. It has been hit by setbacks such as major delays to two new fleets of trains because of problems with manufacturers and refitters. If you have any questions or for buses, bikes and pedestrians; policies to get more heavy lorries on to rail; new lines, stations and It said ministers had served a "no rebasing notice" on Abellio ScotRail. Apply to Abellio has lost tens of millions of pounds since taking over ScotRail in 2015 and hoped to make a small profit in its revised offer. The electrification of the route was completed on time and on budget and has given Cumbernauld and the surrounding communities more choice and more flexibility of travel options. It is just £18 (concessions available) which provides four all-colour magazines a year plus more. SCOTRAIL'S FOCUS ON THE FUTURE. Except with Railfuture's express written permission, no one should distribute or commercially exploit the content. heavy lorries on to rail; new lines, stations and freight terminals - a better rail service and a bigger rail system for both passengers and The scheme has the support of the Scottish goverment, which is currently looking at design options for the chord. with a railway that is focussed on providing the best possible service and passenger experience. Congratulations to the hard-fought Railfuture-affiliated Levenmouth Rail Campaign, which Thank you for For now you can enjoy free Wi-Fi in over 50 stations and on 18 different train routes across the ScotRail network. “I know this news creates uncertainty for us all, but we must remain focused on our mission. It said that following "considerable analysis and careful consideration of the information provided by Abellio ScotRail", ministers had decided the "significant increase in subsidy proposed would not secure delivery of commensurate benefits to passengers, communities and the economy". The photo above (click it for a higher resolution image) shows (left to right) Allison Cosgrove, chair, Stewart Stevenson, Ron McLean, Gallery - Click [here] for the Railfuture Scotland photo gallery. As well as organising the annual national conference for rail users and user groups, Railfuture works at local and national level with train operators and other stakeholders to secure a better railway. All other correspondence to 14 Ghent Field Circle, Thurston, Suffolk IP31 3UP. current edition of Rail magazine. three minutes. On 28 July 2020 the Scottish Government announced a large rail electrification programme by 2035 to achieve decarbonisation. "The business has lost tens of millions of pounds and it would be unsustainable for both Abellio and Transport Scotland to see it through its full ten-year term.”. "While this decision creates unnecessary uncertainty for more than 5,200 staff and our customers, we will maintain our focus on delivering vital projects for Scotland’s Railway and seeing through the delivery of significant customer benefits until 2022.”. In Scotland, physical Railfuture will be monitoring progress and challenge future Scottish campaigning. David Taylor, a 38 Degrees member from Glasgow, who lost his apprenticeship because of ScotRail’s delays, was one of the group who met with the Transport Minister. It set out the Scottish Ministers' vision for the rail network over the next 20 years and shows how rail can contribute to achieving the three strategic outcomes of: 1. improving journey times and connections 2. reducing emissions 3. improving quality, accessibility and affordability The document highlighted 30 projects of different lengths to deliver the Government's vision for a world-class railway system. By contrast, the punctuality figure on which ScotRail is measured by ministers has been improving since summer 2018, albeit it is more than 4 percentage points below target, which is not expected to be reached until 2022. on 2017. Registered in England and Wales No. services provided, not how they are delivered. Only a third of one fleet is in service, a year after it should have been fully operating. six months of joint work by the Council and contractors to finalise the construction programme. With the Network Rail alliance firmly in place, a new ScotRail leadership team and the requirement for us to meet the needs of new trains, timetables and improving infrastructure, we have a great opportunity to achieve our ambition of building the best railway Scotland’s ever had. Even so the reopened railway is a success story, and joins the success of the other lines in Scitland such as Larkhall then passengers would not have had their journeys disrupted for several weeks by the closure of the railway line between Linlithgow and Edinburgh it is also a chance to find out about how you can join us and take part in our MSP. The map below shows the routes that are intended to be electrified by 2035. Glasgow and Edinburgh. This was partily achieved by introducing "queue buster" services during morning and evening peaks, which sees trams running from every freight. Borders Railway. However, we campaign for a switch from politicians amongst others. between Scotlands seven cities. In short, a better rail service and a bigger rail system for both passengers and freight. In mid-November 2014 Railfuture Scotland published its proposals to expand Scotland's rail network - read our Passenger journeys totalled 6.6 million in 2017 having increased by more than Railfuture Scotland issued a press release on 9th October 2014, Railfuture Online Shop. road and air to rail. fact the Borders Railway service has been much more economically viable than comparison against the business case would suggest. Click to cancel this meeting. A book entitled "WAVERLEY ROUTE: The life, death and rebirth of the Borders Railway" by David Spaven can be bought at a discount from the The photo below, taken on 13th October 2018, shows three which is one of Railfuture Scotland's key reopening campaigns. The franchise will end in March 2022. However, having talked with all the bidders, Abellio were the most receptive to our ideas on new Railfuture Scotland plays its part in promoting Railfuture's campaign for better services over a bigger network, It is not funded by train companies, political parties or These include rail professionals, specialist journalists and These include new, longer trains on the Glasgow to Gourock, Wemyss Bay, East Kilbride and Barrhead routes, and Edinburgh to Fife and the Borders. is a voluntary group representing rail users, with 20,000 affiliated and individual members. Railfuture has Vice Presidents from all major political parties. The Dunbar train will stop at East Linton providing an hourly service. because, in just the first year of operation, the number of passengers at the Tweedbank terminus was 681% higher than predicted and the join online now. 05011634. Posted By: Rail Insider 17 March 2021 The Scottish Government has announced that, when the current Abellio ScotRail franchise ends in March 2022, it will take passenger rail services into public ownership. East Linton, and Reston stations - a study into a new rail service between Edinburgh and Berwick-Upon-Tweed, including reopening these stations, was submitted to the Scottish Minister for Transport and the service included in the Abellio ScotRail franchise requirement, but delayed to 2018 by shortage of rolling stock. A word of caution, however. On 14 March 2019, after having updated the Final Business Case and confirmed the project budget of £207.3m, City of Edinburgh councillors Attracting people back to rail after COVID-19, Railfuture-affiliated Levenmouth Rail Campaign, https://www.fifetoday.co.uk/news/traffic-and-travel/levenmouth-rail-link-gets-75m-green-light-1-4979325/, http://www.scotsman.com/news/transport/expansions-for-scotland-s-rail-network-proposed-1-3608562, http://ciltuk.org.uk/News/LatestNews/tabid/235/ctl/NewsItem/mid/589/Id/4635/Default.aspx, http://www.edinburgh.gov.uk/tramstonewhaven/. success...bringing benefits to the local economy" with the line "acting as a catalyst for investment while opening up employment, leisure Flyovers will increase capacity as Our volunteer members in branches and around 300 local Despite complaints about poor punctuality, performance does not appear to have been a factor in the decision, and it is slowly improving. We do not interfere in the running of the railway - we campaign for the quality and range of This will determine whether Railfuture Scotland has produced a leaflet about the A planned new station at East Linton in East Lothian could be delayed, along with more frequent trains on the Glasgow to Dumfries and Oban/Mallaig line. However, it's not all about new infrastructure. The 46 three-car and 24 four-car penultimate stop at Galashiels was 330% above prediction - a total of 550,000 passengers in the year versus the 90,000 estimated. A subsidiary of Abellio, it has operated the ScotRail franchise since 1 April 2015, taking over from predecessor First ScotRail. Events - Click [here] for details of conferences and other events organised by Railfuture Scotland. This is quite realistic considering that about Potential The Scottish media publicised Railfuture Scotland's proposals - see below. "We also welcome the opportunity for a public service provider to bid to run the franchise in two years' time. “We will remain fully committed to running a safe and reliable service until the end of the contract in 2022. station, which is the terminus, to cope with a much higher than expected number of passengers. a train would not have to wait to cross the path of another, but obviously it would be a more expensive scheme. The latest published figures for the Borders Railway (6 September 2018) show more than 4 million passenger the infrastructure operator, Network Rail, in Scotland, spoke to the Railfuture AGM in May 2018. 70 stations have been added to the Scottish network over the past 30 years. For decades Railfuture has campaigned for a rolling programme of electrification across Britain. We're also planning for Voice over IP (VoIP) and digital Closed-Circuit Television (CCTV) deployments." comments about the work of Railfuture Scotland you can contact piur secretary (see contacts page). It is not affiliated to or funded by train companies, Transport Scotland said the current franchise agreement required ministers and Abellio to revisit the level of government subsidy provided for the remaining five years of the contract and to determine whether additional subsidy should be paid, which is known as "rebasing". Railfuture engages with politicians from all political parties at Westminster and the devolved governments in Scotland and Wales. Abellio ScotRail, operating services under the name ScotRail, is the Dutch-owned national train operating company of Scotland. Railfuture campaigns for cheap and convenient rail services for everyone; better links for buses, bikes and pedestrians; policies to get more schemes is for maximum capacity to allow as many trains to operate as possible. here to see our flier about it), Mr Matheson was speaking during a visit to ScotRail’s Shields Road electric fleet depot, where he unveiled Transport Scotland’s Rail Services Decarbonisation Action Plan. He was one of the speakers at Railfuture's With the number of customers travelling on Scotland’s Railway down by almost 90 per cent compared to the same time last year, we have reduced some services to better match demand. Links - Click [here] for links to external Scottish web-sites (including other campaign groups). gave approval (voting 36 to 26 in favour) to extend the Edinburgh tram network by 4.5km to Newhaven, Ocean Terminal or the foot of Leith Walk. Railfuture volunteers, including chair Allison Cosgrove and secretary Jane-Ann Liston, meeting rail users and discussing our campaigns. We would, however, appreciate a mention of Railfuture in any article, website or programme. Prince Philip: Funeral plans under Covid-19 restrictions... First Home Fund: Scottish government closes applications aft... What happens after Prince Philip's death? new coaches comprising four trains of 16 coaches (plus 11 spare coaches) operating the Highland and Lowland services. This compares to 1.3 million in the first Every member gets one vote at its AGM. A few 38 Degrees members have just met with Scottish Government’s Transport Minister Humza Yousaf to talk about the future of ScotRail. An industry source told The Scotsman: “It’s clear from this news that Abellio ScotRail had bigger issues with its finances than performance. In early 2015 the Railfuture Scotland committee took him out for a meal and he then attended the committee meeting afterwards. numbers for stations closer to Edinburgh (where the journeys would have been much shorter) mainly fell short of predictions. ScotRail is to trial the fastest in-train Wi-Fi service in the world – Project SWIFT will allow users to experience Internet speeds on-the-go of up to 300 Mbps. The project will make significant changes to the look of the station, which has sat in the heart of Aberdeen city centre for more than 150 years. the use of part of an existing freight spur, would provide an alternative connection between the Edinburgh–Glasgow and Edinburgh–Aberdeen It will see a €200m investment for 75 Currently, passengers travelling between the two cities can access less than 10% of that capability. number of passenger kilometres - and therefore the revenue collected - is substantially higher than the estimates in the business case. Abellio ScotRail lost £7.9m before tax on turnover of … has been a full refurbishment of the existing train fleet and passengers will soon be travelling on refurbised 'high speed trains' (HSTs) railway that is value for money is what you want, please become a member - for just £18 (or £14 for concessions). Railfuture Almost all of ScotRail’s 5,200 staff are expected to transfer to whoever takes over, on their current conditions, as happened when Abellio took over from First in 2015. Literally. If you would like to join our campaign for a rail future please go to the a small funding scheme for local groups with railway connections, and we hope that Abellio will continue to engage with local communities. At the Tourism Economic Assessment Monitor. such as electrification, it is vital that passengers have fast, frequent, convenient, reliable, safe, and value-for-money train services Campaign resources - Click [here] for a list Railfuture Scotland campaign resources. The Class 385 trains manufactured by Hitachi. [http://www.edinburgh.gov.uk/tramstonewhaven/] for more information about the project. governments if they rein back on the commitment for decarbonisation. Had the chord been constructed several years ago, as Railfuture Scotland has proposed (click These proposals include a top 50 list (view or download) Newsletter - Click [here] to read back issues of 'Branch Notes' the Railfuture Scotland newsletter. From 19 May 2014, the Cumbernauld line services increased by 3 trains per an hour (2 electric services will operate via Glasgo… THE Scottish Government has decided to terminate the ScotRail franchise held by Abellio when the core contract ends on 31 March 2022. in Britain constructed in more than a century, cost £353 million comprising £295 million (2012 prices) for construction plus The conversion will be done by an industry consortium led by hydrogen technology specialists Arcola Energy with the target of showcasing the train to a global audience attending the […] “Of course, the Scottish Government must plan for the future of our rail services, beyond 2022, and work is already under way to examine the options open to us in this regard.”, Scottish Conservatives transport spokesman Jamie Greene said: “Pulling the rug from under the feet of the current operator will do nothing to improve performance, deliver better value for money or encourage future investment in our railways.”, “There are serious questions to be asked of SNP ministers as to how they came to this conclusion and why they think this provides stability or makes financial sense to the taxpayer.”, Scottish Labour transport spokesman Colin Smyth said: “What we now must know is if the Scottish Government intend to make a serious public sector bid for control of ScotRail or whether our railways will be flogged off once more to a foreign-based private company focused only on profit.”. The company that runs Scotland's rail services has reported losses of £10m over a 15-month period. We await with interest to see what is 20,000 affiliated and individual members. Our people are hugely important in our business – it’s them who make us different. In early October 2018 at the Global Light Rail Awards recognised Edinburgh Trams in all four of the categories it was shortlisted The In the first year of tram operation, which commenced on 31 May 2014 (see BBC report), On 1st April 2015 Scotland got two new train operators. Prince Philip dies aged 99 LIVE: Buckingham Palace lead tributes following death of Duke of Edinburgh, funeral plans to be announced, Scottish election campaign suspended, Prince Philip: Funeral plans under Covid-19 restrictions. map was produced and progress has been slower that it implied. This west-to-south chord near Dalmeny, along with Alex Hynes, the Managing Director of the ScotRail Alliance, which puts him in charge of both the train operator, owned by Abellio, and But Mr Booth said: “We are hugely disappointed by this decision and believe it’s the wrong choice for Scotland’s railway and its customers. "There’s no impact on your job or your pay.”. most businesses, the trams made a loss, which was less than 10 pence per journey. press release. BBC web-site. ambition, is to give Scotland the best railway it has ever had. "New trains will enable easy Wi-Fi connectivity for passengers. detailed design when the green light has been given by the Minister, so one can be confident that it will go ahead. The tram system continues to go from strenth to strength. However, because of the COVID-19 outbreak it has been necessary The Caledonian sleeper service has been operating as a standalone franchise since April 2015. passenger number were 10% higher than forecast with three million people using them. Although this website covers in detail some of the recent line and station reopenings in Scotland, along with infrastructure upgrades, Abellio said it was ‘hugely disappointed’. In Scotland one such person is Stewart Stevenson greatest risk to the future of the railway for decades. Capital Rail Action Group, which like Railfuture campaigns for a better public transport, especially Railfuture's preference on such Railfuture Scotland is calling for faster and more frequent trains on existing Allison Cosgrove, Chair of Railfuture Scotland said: "Railfuture Scotland has enjoyed a good relationship with First during the current The next steps of the £8 million redevelopment of Aberdeen station have been unveiled by ScotRail. BBC report). The media has reported that Scottish Borders Council and Scotrail are considering improvements to the 'inadequate' facilities at Tweedbank We will continue to operate around 65 per cent of services. Strictly speaking only the detailed design phase is committed, not implementation. ScotRail was forced to submit a plan by February, 2019, to address falling performance levels which, if unsuccessful, could result in a breach of contract and lead to … Perhaps we should be more appreciative of what we have!". However, Transport Scotland only performs the and the trams soon started making a profit, generating a pre-tax operating profit of £252,000 in 2016 against a forecast pre-tax loss.
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